Wiltshire Council says it is planning ahead after being put onto a schools grant management plan as the result of being £19.8m overspent.

The forecast overspend for special education needs was £11.6m for 2020/21 and combined with previous years deficits created an anticipated total budget gap of £19.8m.

The management plan, which was signed off in February with the budget, hows how the county will manage its schools budget. Despite an overall increase in funding for Wiltshire schools the demand from the special needs block outstripped the rise, the council said.

The council wants the Department for Education to move away from the current formula and to take into account factors from rural counties and the number of education and healthcare plans in setting out funding.

According to the DfE, at the moment the number of EHCPs in the county would not be a factor when allocating funding.

The council says it is already ahead of the management scheme in creating the SEN strategy and high needs block recovery plan.

It said this would ensure the best value is achieved while still meeting the needs of those pupils.

Lucy Townsend, corporate director for people

Lucy Townsend, corporate director for people

Lucy Townsend, corporate director for people said: “Wiltshire Council and the Schools Forum have worked together in their commitment to all pupils.

“The schools funding settlement for 2020/21 was such that Wiltshire could fully afford the national formula for mainstream schools as well as apply the maximum transfer of 0.5 per cent – £1.517m – to support pupils with high needs.

"In addition, funding values for our schools supporting pupils with high needs have been protected with no reduction.

“The DfE asks local authorities with a deficit to have a management plan and in Wiltshire this was signed off by the schools forum at the January meeting alongside the budget.”

“This plan will ensure the best value is achieved whilst meeting the needs of children and young people and we are using this to prioritise our resources.

She added: “The DfE is aware that many local authorities are spending more on high needs than they have allocated and therefore want to make sure that they are allocating high needs funding as appropriately and fairly as possible.

“As a result, the DfE are currently seeking views on the high needs formula and alongside our school leaders we very much welcome the opportunity to feed back.”

According to government figures from March 2020, Wiltshire Council’s school budget totalled £375,430,862.